Thursday, October 26, 2017

Hello everyone! I have a Halloween make to share today-- one that I was inspired to create. I haven't made any jewelry lately so I was excited and inspired by the theme and jumped at the chance to make some new Witch-worthy jewels for a "Witch's Cupboard" charm swap with some art friends hosted by Michelle Frae Cummings.

I knew immediately that I wanted to create some glowing apple charms. I have an old apple pin that I found at a thrift store in my "TO MOLD" box that is a nice size and would be a nice pendant or charm made in resin... and with Halloween just around the corner, perhaps a POISON apple??!

I would normally break out the Amazing Mold Putty, but with the high gloss enameled surface and the fact that I wanted to make multiples -- I decided on using Amazing Remelt to create molds for my Cre8time Witchcraft!

Amazing Remelt is a Non Toxic, one-part reusable mold making material for room temperature or low exotherm materials. Amazing Remelt softens at 120˚F and becomes liquid at 135˚-140˚F. It can be remelted and reused to make new molds time and time again. This is ideal for making molds for smaller items such as jewelry, embellishments, and chocolate molds. YES, this stuff is FOOD-SAFE and it works great with chocolate and fondant!!

Before making a mold I need to add some tape to the backside so that the molding material won't flow through the hole where the stem touches the apple. I burnish the tape down really good with a bone folder to ensure good adhesion.

A couple criss-crossed recycled stir-sticks through the pin back will help suspend the original over a small silicone bowl that I will be using as a mold box.

Amazing Remelt is easy-to-use but you need to be patient. Amazing Remelt requires melting... the best way is in the microwave LOW and SLOW {CLICK HERE to view preparation}. It can be melted in the container it comes in, but for molding small items, I prefer using this cup fashioned with Amazing Mold Putty which I formed around the outside of a shot glass. I like this cup because it can be baked up to 375º F, is easier to pour from, and it helps keep the melted material from cooling off too fast.

I place the mounted apple over the top of a small silicone bowl then pour the melted Amazing Remelt over the top, completely covering surface of item. I stop for a brief moment after first coating, then repeat with a second layer. The overpour is collected in silicone bowl below which will be the mold box in the following steps.

After cooling off for a couple minutes, the Amazing Remelt hardens, and I have a skin layer which helps prevent air bubbles from getting trapped on surface of original.

I fill the bowl and flip the mounted pin with remelt skin layer over, then place face down into the liquid Amazing Remelt. After leveling it on the bowl, add more remelt to fill up to edge of suspended apple pin. Mold making doesn't always look pretty... it just needs to WORK! I set this in the refrigerator for about a 1/2 hour to cool and harden.

My little apple mold is hardened and ready to pop out of the bowl and demold.

I can make my charms, then melt the molds down and mold something else later. I don't have to store umpteen apple molds for eternity. I plan to make a few extra molds for FOOD USE ONLY to make some poison apple Halloween treats with chocolate melts. YES, this molding product is foodsafe and is perfect for chocolate and fondant.

Most of my time making these charms was spent on mold preparation. I made 16 molds which took me a a couple hours one morning plus a whole entire day. Making one mold takes about a 1/2 an hour... the time consuming part is melting the Amazing Remelt slowly and then waiting for it to harden to demold the original.

Before pouring resin, I gently cut a slice in each mold where I suspend a headpin with two glass beads {these will be embedded in the resin}. I will use this to form a loop at the top to affix beads and a jump ring for hanging on a chain. With a tiny brush, I added a bit of color to the leaf and stem using Alumidust.

I gently pour resin, guiding it with a stir stick to fill each mold. I cover the tray and set aside to cure overnight.

VOILA... my apples are cured and are ready to embellish! I decided to use a glass leaf bead, so I bent and broke off the leaf of each resin apple. I gave each a light and quick sanding around edges with an emory board, then I finished each charm with 2 wire-wrapped beaded danglies placed onto the embedded headpin. I close headpin off and form a loop for a jumpring... these gorgeous glowing apples are complete.

How charming is the glowing green apple?!

After making the green apples... I couldn't stop there! I took this idea further by altering the original, then remolding/casting to make a glowing resin POISON apple! This right is a one-of-a-kind, but if anyone would love a custom pendant, I will entertain custom orders for with drips in your favorite color.Here is mine with an accompanying ATC {artist trading card} as part of swap rules.

"Dip the apple in the brew,

let the Sleeping Death seep through..."

Here are the ghoulishly glam charms made by all the players. I'm going to have fun dressing these up into finished pieces and having SpOoKy jewels to wear for the coming weeks up to Halloween. CLICK on NAME to pop over to a tutorial {if available}.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Hello friends!! Halloween is right around the corner and my Cre8time is in full SpOoKtacular gear. I have a brand new Halloween project to share today - one that I am so excited about!

On Tuesdays it's recycling day and I am always inspired as to what I may find in my recycling bin to make things out of. Today's I am sharing an amazing jar transformation using Etchall® Etching Creme and a few things from my crafty stash... a salsa jar transformed to a spooky jar containing "Eyes of Newt"!

I begin by soaking the label off of the bottle and using some rubbing alcohol to clear off any residual glue and stamped information on the glass. This was from some delicious spicy salsa.

For this project, everything I need to etch glass is from the Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit. It has everything you need to get started... and in minutes you will be hooked on etching!

Etchall® is a REUSABLE, easy to use etching créme that creates permanent etched designs on large or small areas of glass, mirror, ceramic, porcelain, marble and slate. No curing, or drying required... it just takes 15 minutes! CLICK HERE to read more about this fantastic ACMI Certified product.

The actual etching cream is very quick and easy the most of the work I did was in preparing the resin pieces and decorating and embellishing the lid of the jar the etching was the fun part and the easiest part.

But before I prepare some artwork to cut vinyl with my Cricut Explore Air -- I mix up some Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast Resin with some Fluorescent Green Dye and Phosphorescent Powder, then pour a little in the bottom of the jar and set aside to let that cure. This needs to set overnight to cure.

I create the words on my computer in Adobe Illustrator, then I convert that to a format that can be imported into the Cricut Design Studio. I scale it to size and cut it on a piece of the vinyl provided in the Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit.

With the vinyl cut out I remove the letters and separated them from the backing/border so that I can place it on the jar. I'm actually going to etch the letters so I actually need the what would normally be the waste section around the vinyl lettering. I pick up the section of vinyl with a piece of contact paper to transfer to jar.

Being fairly new to vinyl cutting I didn't know what I was thinking and I cut away all of the excess not realizing that I really needed it... so I used some blue painters tape to fill in around the vinyl and protect the glass. In hindsight, when I do this next time, I will make sure to cover even MORE area around the vinyl on the glass because I found that I was a bit sloppy in applying the Etchall® Etching Créme. I use the squeegee tool to burnish down everything real good to ensure the etching creme doesn't seep under the edges.

Using a recycled plastic knife to reach down into the bottle, I scoop out and apply a nice slather of the Etchall® Etching Créme to the exposed area, then I let it sit for 15 minutes.

While I wait for the Etchall® Etching Créme to do it's magic, I quickly add a patina finish to the jar lid and resin pieces with Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks {gold and pitch black}, then rubbing the high points with a gold paste wax.

After I'm done painting my embellishments, I return to remove the Etchall®. Using the squeegee tool, I Gently scrape away and drop the Etchall® Etching Creme right back into the container! I love that this product is recyclable!!! This one little bottle of créme can be used over and over again.

Once all of the Etchall® Etching Creme is removed, I wash the remaining residue completely from the glass with just plain water, then pat dry with a soft cloth.

Using the detail pick tool, I gently peeled off the vinyl and the blue tape, then gave it another rinse and let dry. I removed any sticky residue from vinyl/tape with rubbing alcohol.

The ETCHING and the Green Glowing Resin look so creepy... but let's CREEP it up a BIT more!

**BEWARE** Now I'm going to let you in on a little tip on how I made the "eyes of newt". This is a food product BUT THE WAY I HAVE DONE THIS IS NOT TO EAT -- FOR DISPLAY ONLY. You are going to want to only prepare/use this when you're going to have this on display for a party. You don't want to leave this in there all the time because it will mold... it gets real gross, pretty fast! I soaked Chia seeds in water. When Chia seeds are soaked in liquid they swell up sort of like a tapioca, but not so large and they have little black thingy in the middle that looks like an eye. I have these to put in smoothies because they're supposed to be very high in omega-3 vitamins and I happen to have some on hand! PERFECT! I added a bit of my fluorescent Green Alumilite resin die and Alumilite Phosphorescent powder with some rubbing alcohol to this to add additional spooky glow. You could use green food coloring too.

Now for the top of the lid -- I have embellished with handmolded and cast resin pieces from some found objects: one being a broken faucet handle; a bleached piece of bone {cast 4 times}; and also a recycled mini perfume bottle {which also has a bit of glowing resin inside}. I used some wire to wrap the ends of each resin bone together with a wire wrapped bead between and twisted wire snugly to secure around edge of jar lid. The top of the jar is layered with the recycled perfume bottle atop of the resin cast faucet handle.

The completed jar is just so SpOoKy cool!!

The best part... this whole project is created with stuff I have around the house {crafty stuff included}. This looks great by itself, but I have a few other oddities to pair up with this gruesome collection of eyes. In a day or so I will discard the "eyes" and rise out the jar... but the FOOD SAFE glowing green resin goodness in the bottom will remain.

How would you transform a jar with Etchall®?

Wishing you a Happy ETCH-O-WEEN!! Stay tuned for more ideas on transforming items with Etchall®! :) Sb

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** This is a sponsored post. Etchall® has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

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WELCOME to the blog for sbartist (Susan M. Brown) - mixed media artist and graphic designer.I frequently lurk around in the dark creating art while all in the world are asleep. What will I dream up next...